


If I Told You (Would You Turn Your Back On Me)

by YellowMagicalGirl



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Jim is not the Trollhunter, Alternate Universe - Transfer Students, Changeling Jim Lake Jr, Don’t copy to another site, F/M, I kind of want to add another tag but it's a spoiler for the last line of this fic so I won't, Implied/Mentioned Anxiety Disorder, Implied/Referenced Canon-Typical Violence, Title from an Imagine Dragons Song, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-10
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-12-07 16:14:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20978732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YellowMagicalGirl/pseuds/YellowMagicalGirl
Summary: “You can tell me anything,” Claire says. Jim knows this isn't true.





	If I Told You (Would You Turn Your Back On Me)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt ["you can tell me anything"](https://yellowmagicalgirl.tumblr.com/post/187672170417/one-hundred-ways-to-say-i-love-you) for spaziovuoto7 and netflixseriesworld on tumblr.

“You okay, Jim?” Claire asked early one morning before classes.

“Not really,” he replied. Toby had stayed in sick, and Jim wished he could, as well. However, his mom had finished med school in the time he had been away; she would be able to tell if he was faking sick. 

They had both transferred to Arcadia Oaks High at the same time, which had made them into fast friends. Everyone thought that Jim had transferred to Arcadia Oaks High from his school in Vermont because his dad had died and he had gone back to live with his mom. Claire had used to go to the Academy, but she had transferred for mysterious enough reasons that coupled with her hair clipped-beauty and her easy way of talking to people, she had quickly grown in the ranks of popularity.

Well, mysterious if you hadn’t been trained in how to read people since you were five, and also couldn’t find similar anxiety symptoms in a mirror.

“You can tell me anything,” Claire said with a smile as brilliant as the sun.

He wished he could. But she either wouldn’t believe him, or he would be putting her in danger.

He wasn’t okay, he was scared. The previous Trollhunter had died a couple nights ago, and according to the senior members of the Janus Order the amulet had picked a human. No one was sure who, and Bular hadn’t cared enough about how many fleshbags he needed to kill before the Trollhunter showed themself... or was killed.

Jim had made sure to check through his mom’s purse to make sure she didn’t have the amulet. He had been sent a picture of the amulet, with the instructions to tell Mr. Strickler if he saw _anyone_ with it. If it was his mom, though, he wouldn’t tell Mr. Strickler. He’d tell his mom that she was in danger, and he’d tell her the truth about his childhood.

Jim’s dad wasn’t dead. He had been reassigned to a post in Europe, and it would be easier to fake his death than to leave a paper trail like he had back when Jim was five. As it was, the Janus Order needed more agents in Arcadia Oaks even _before_ the amulet of daylight chose a human... somehow. Jim still didn’t understand how a broach-like disk could choose _anyone_, but he understood that the world was magical. He had to, he was half-changeling and carried enchanted knives. However, Jim much preferred the human world he was born into. Jim didn’t want it to end, and when he got to go live with his mom he had mistakenly thought that he could live a normal life with only the slightest of loyalties to the Janus Order.

“It’s fine,” Jim said to Claire, ducking his head. He could never be truly honest with her, and it hurt because she deserved the _whole_ world, not just the human parts of it. “I just didn’t get enough sleep, and now I’ve got a headache.”

“Aww, sorry about that; I know the feeling.” Claire pulled a thermos out of her backpack. Jim’s eyes widened. “I’ve got some caffeinated tea, you want some? I’ve found that it helps with headaches.”

The Amulet of Daylight glinted from within Claire’s backpack.


End file.
